Burn says Newcastle fans would rather beat Sunderland than progress in Europe

Dan Burn believes Newcastle fans would prefer to beat Sunderland in the FA Cup than progress to the Champions League knockout stages.

A Daniel Ballard own goal and a brace from Alexander Isak was enough to hand the Magpies a comfortable victory at the Stadium of Light and Burn issued a rallying call after the match.

He said: "It was a special win. I think there was a lot of build-up to the game so to come through with a win and a clean sheet is great. 

"It has been a long time since we've played this type of game. If you can ask fans whether they would rather advance in the Champions League or beat Sunderland, I think they would pick beating Sunderland.

"It was a great day and the crowd really made it.

"We've had a lot of games so it has been hard to train and habits have fallen away a bit but that was back to us today, the way we pressed and fought.

"We spoke about it the last two seasons, we want to win something. It has been so long since we won something and it would be amazing to win the FA Cup."

Head coach Eddie Howe echoed the thoughts of Burn and believes his club took a step in the right direction following their poor run.

He added: "We handled the occasion well, were brave with the ball and were very composed. We didn't let the crowd take over and we handled everything really well in the first half. 

"I think we are still a bit off our best but it was a step in the right direction, hopefully the forward momentum can continue. 

"If you look at the size of the games we've had this year this was nothing new. We've handled big occasions really well this year.

"We had to do the little bits right today and that's what happened. It keeps us in an important competition and that brings hope."

The Tynesiders are back in Premier League action when they host Manchester City next Saturday.